Nicholson addresses Streetscape

A 29-year-old Nicholson man who escaped from police custody last August after authorities found 630 packets of heroin in his home, could face as much as 17 years in state prison and $255,000 in fines. Ryan Forrest Kiernan, of Lenape Lane, appeared before
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The Streetscape project and planning commission appointments were some of the highlighted topics at Monday’s Nicholson Borough Council meeting.

Councilwoman Joan Jenkins addressed rumors that the borough council has to give money back to PennDOT for the project, and that the council only plans to take care of one side of the street.

“It’s all hearsay. I just want to clarify that nothing has been determined. Nothing has been decided and Streetscape is going along smoothly,” Jenkins said.

About $94,500 will have to come out of the PennDOT grant for inspections, but Jenkins emphasized that the borough council does not need to raise any additional funds for the project, which aims to beautify sidewalks in Nicholson.

The borough council re-appointed Karen Brown to the Water and Sewer Authority Board for a five-year term.

While discussing if there were any other appointments to make during the meeting, solicitor Paul Litwin asked if there are any zoning board or planning commission members that need to be re-appointed.

Borough council president Dawn Bell said there currently isn’t a planning commission because each member resigned, but there is an existing zoning board that is doing well.

Bell encouraged everyone to think of people who might be interested in the job and the council decided to hold off on appointing new members until the next meeting.

Litwin said responsibilities for the planning commission include reviewing and commenting on any zoning ordinance amendments, as well as reviewing and commenting on subdivisions or land development.

At a previous meeting in December, Bell brought up asking one of the gas companies to clean out the creeks if the borough fronted the permit costs.

On Monday night, Bell said she ended up deciding not to ask Cabot about it.

“I got thinking of this deal with FEMA coming through, they said something about maybe cleaning, so I thought well maybe we would see what they do,” Bell said.

During the public comment period, local resident Cindy Hallock brought up a complaint she gave at a previous meeting in December.

Hallock said that since Penelec replaced its parking lot light with an orange light, it shines directly into her home, and wanted to know if it was possible to remedy the problem.

Additionally, she said lights shine in her bedroom when people drop off recyclables at the borough building in the evening and early morning and discussed the possibility of making the street a one-way.

At Monday’s meeting, Bell said it would be too difficult to get drivers to follow a new one-way or turn off their headlights, and that she wouldn’t be willing to move the recycling containers.

Bell said the borough council put up a sign, and Hallock responded that the sign had no mention of turning headlights off. She said the light should be at a 90 degree angle, but isn’t.

Councilman John Kiryluk asked if it would be possible to stand the light pole up straight, and Hallock said they should change it back to a white light, which did not bother her in the past.

Since the light belongs to Penelec, Hallock said she would contact the company instead.

Councilman John Bower brought up the possibility of providing the borough maintenance man with tools because he has been using his own for jobs. Bower said the borough council can put together a list of tools he needs plus prices and see about purchasing them.

Bower also suggested the possibility of selling a street sweeper that the borough has not used in a long time and using the profit to buy the tools.

Kiryluk expressed concerns about a stone wall in town that’s falling and asked if it’s a responsibility of PennDOT. He said he would call to find out if it could get fixed.

In the business portion of the meeting, a motion was made for secretary/treasurer Jessica Bower to access accounts at First National Bank for statements and transfers.

Motions were also made to designate Bower as the communication agent between FEMA and PEMA, sign a quote for New Enterprise Stone & Lime Co., have Lochen & Chase do a yearly audit and close the CD at People’s National Bank and deposit it into the general fund for railroad reimbursement.

Nicholson Borough Council will meet again on Monday, Jan. 21 at 6 p.m.

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